I have been following this very interesting blog by Jhop: "Blessed are the war supporters?" The issues raised in it led me to post a link to this very helpful article I ran across awhile back: "Christianity & Culture: God's Double Sovereignty" by Dr. Gene Edward Veith. As Christians, we are "in the world" but not "of the world," as Jesus said in his high priestly prayer in John 17. How do we live in this tension? The article discusses this in some depth, with plenty of examples from politics to music and art that provide lots of food for thought. So, I thought that I would also mention it here.

In brief, there are two kingdoms ("spiritual" and "temporal") which need to be distinguished. God rules over them both, but He rules over each one in a particular way. As Veith puts it:

God is sovereign both in the church and in the culture―but he rules the two in different ways. In the church, God reigns through the work of Christ and the giving of the Holy Spirit, expressing his love and grace through the forgiveness of sins and the life of faith. God also exercises his authority and providential control through all of creation―upholding the very universe, so that the laws of physics, the processes of chemistry, and other natural laws are part of what he has ordained. Similarly, God rules the nations―even those who do not acknowledge him―making human beings to be social creatures, in need of governments, laws, and cultures to mitigate the self-destructive tendencies of sin and to enable human beings to survive.

Thus, God has a spiritual rule in the hearts and lives of Christians; he also has a secular rule that extends throughout his creation and in every culture. God reigns in the church through the gospel, the proclamation of forgiveness in the Cross of Jesus Christ, a message which kindles faith and an inward transformation in the believer. He reigns in the world through his law, which calls human societies to justice and righteousness.

We should not seek to have the church slavishly follow the culture, conquer the culture or be completely separated from the culture. Rather, the church should engage the culture, maintaining the "in the world but not of the world" status that God has given it. As believers in Christ, we must learn how to live out each of our callings in both kingdoms.